CINCINNATI

TRADITIONS.  Mileposts on our journey through life.  A mirror to what was and what is.  Here is a Cincinnati tradition  and how it began. 

In 1848, Bishop Purcell purchased land on Mt. Adams for the purpose of building an additional church there.  Holy Cross Church was on the pinnacle of the mount and it was the home of the early Irish settlers on 'the hill'.  Mt. Adams had become a popular neighborhood and German immigrants were now moving there.

In 1859, Archbishop Purcell laid the cornerstone for a new church to be built there called the Church of the Immaculate Conception - known as Immaculata.  The following year, he had wooden steps built so that people could easily walk to the church from the south side of  the neighborhood.  The parishioners began saying prayers on each step as the rose to the new church as it was being built.  There were about 96 steps.  In remembrance, large crowds came each Good Friday.

In 1911, the City of Cincinnati replaced the original wooden steps with concrete ones.  In 1970, Holy Cross Church closed and it's St. Patrick statue was stolen and moved to Immaculata.  With the closing of Holy Cross school, monastery and church, the one remaining Catholic church is now called Holy Cross - Immaculata. 

My father was the son of Irish immigrants who settled on Mt. Adams and raised a dozen children there.  They all attended Holy Cross parish and school - as did all the Irish. 

The praying of the steps up to Immaculata on Good Friday is a Cincinnati tradition that continues today; rain or shine the crowds are enormous.
🙏